You Know I Love You, Right?
by Inkblooded Witch
Summary: College is rough. It's even rougher when you have to manage secrets when you're not very good at keeping them. But it's worth it. Sucky description, I know, but the story is better. :P USUK. One-shot.


**I was going for short but sweet. Hope you like. :)**

 **Enjoy!**

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Alfred rolled over, wrapping his arms around a pillow and tugging it under his chest. He yawned, reaching over to pick his phone off the nightstand. Wincing slightly as he turned it on, he squinted at the time. One in the morning. On a Saturday. And he was alone in the bed. Great.

Groaning softly, he threw his legs over the side of the bed, trading his phone for his glasses and stuffing them onto his nose. Pulling the tousled blanket from the end of the bed, he wrapped it around his shoulders, shuffling across the carpet. The bedroom door was cracked, and he pulled it open. The hall was mostly dark, save for a sliver of light coming from the office across the hall. Smiling tightly, Alfred wandered over to it, nudging it open.

His boyfriend was sitting at his desk, hunched over in the light of the desk lamp. He was surrounded by papers, answer sheets, and a glowing laptop screen open to one of his grade books. Typical. He had even gotten dressed, pulling on an old concert t-shirt and his only pair of sweat pants.

Coming up behind him, Alfred wrapped his arms around the other man's shoulders. Pressing his lips to the sensitive flesh just behind his ear he murmured, "It's not mid-term season or final season. Why are you here and not in bed?"

Arthur sighed, setting down his red pen and reaching up, putting a hand on one of Alfred's arms. "Didn't mean to wake you, love."

"You didn't. But I want you to come back to bed, Iggy."

"I need to get these done, love, you of all people should know," Arthur chided wearily. "They get annoyed if I put it off too long. You certainly did."

"When did you give that test?"

"Thursday."

"When was that paper due?"

"Friday. But there's two hundred hundred of the bloody things, love, and they only let me have three T.A.'s this time round."

"It's really, really early on Saturday. Most of them won't be up for another twelve hours. You've got time. You work too hard, Artie. Come on, put it away."

Arthur started to protest, and Alfred started trailing kisses down his neck, rubbing his shoulders. "I'll make it worth your while," he purred, grinning when he felt Arthur start to cave.

It was both one of the best and worst things about their relationship. Arthur had a hard time saying no to Alfred, but if he needed to he would. Alfred tried to get Arthur to loosen up, relax a little more, work and stress less. Usually he was successful.

The few people who knew about them had been kept in the dark until a few months ago. As far as Alfred knew, no one was aware he more or less lived at Arthur's place these days. They'd met over six months ago. When Alfred had flopped down into a seat in Arthur's English Lit class. He'd had a crush on him for a while before figuring out Arthur liked him too. Alfred wasn't the most perceptive tool in the shed, but if you went to all a professors office hours every single week, fabricating enough questions to make sure you absorbed every minute possible, you learned to read someone.

Alfred had waited until after midterms, after the final drop date when Arthur was stuck with him for the rest of the Fall semester, to make a move. By then he was sure. He even had the assurance Arthur shared his feelings on some level. The Brit had gotten to his feet, demanding to know what Alfred was doing when he closed the normally open office door. When he'd surprised the man with a kiss, he'd returned it, only panicking after he'd pulled away.

It had taken some convincing, and some more kissing, but Alfred had convinced Arthur not to completely freak out. It was college, not high school, and while Alfred knew he wasn't the only one who was a bit more than friendly with a professor, he also wanted to limit the damage if anyone found out. He would just be kicked out, but Arthur would be fired. Part of his persuasion tactic was promising to wait until the end of the semester to get serious.

The day after the final grades had been put in, they'd had their first date. Now that Alfred was no longer one of his students, they had a bit more flexibility, but they also wanted to keep it quiet. Alfred was okay with that. His parents only knew he had a serious boyfriend. Mathew, his brother, was the only one who knew, but then Mathew always knew everything.

Reluctantly, Arthur let himself be drawn back to the bedroom, returning the lingering kisses and not putting up a fuss when Alfred pulled his shirt over his head. The Brit pulled him closer, running a hand through his hair and toying with his cowlick. Alfred felt his lips curl into a smile when he gasped, only to be pushed back onto the bed before he could protest.

"What _did_ wake you up?" Arthur asked, pulling off Alfred's boxers. "I didn't hear a bomb go off."

Alfred rolled his eyes, but didn't comment as the Brit shed the sweatpants, scooting farther up the bed so his legs weren't dangling off. Normally he did have a hard time waking up, but lately it was easier to get up if Arthur wasn't there, harder to fall asleep. He was still trying to work out if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

"You were gone," he said simply as Arthur crawled over him.

He chuckled, bending down to kiss Alfred slowly. "That's sweet, love. I should really be more careful, though. Apparently you're contagious. The frog asked me why I was in such a bloody good mood this week."

"Do you think that's me, the sex, or both?" asked Alfred, watching as Arthur snagged the bottle from the nightstand.

"Probably both. Think we should take a break and see which one for sure?"

"No!" protested Alfred, jerking himself upright.

Arthur pushed him back down again, kissing him slowly before making a lazy trail down his throat. "Have I ever mentioned how much I love your hormones?"

"I think so," said Alfred, eyes going a little hazy as he focused on staying perfectly still. "Gentleman in the streets, freak in the sheets?"

"Mmm."

He reached up, running a hand through tousled sandy blond hair. Arthur lifted his head, studying him. Normally Alfred turned into a statue when he trailed kisses over his skin. For whatever reason, it was a more simplistic foreplay for him that made him shiver in pleasure.

"What's wrong, love?"

"I love you, Artie. You know that, right?"

Arthur's face softened. He reached up, laying a hand against Alfred's cheek. "Of course. And you know how I feel about you."

Alfred's eyes fluttered closed as a tender kiss was pressed to his forehead. He knew that, outside the safety of Arthur's house, this wasn't the best arrangement in the world. But for what it was worth, he did love Arthur. He was still just nineteen, but he'd turn twenty in a few months when July came round. If they could hold out long enough, if the plan he'd laid out went through, maybe they could be more. Maybe after he left the general population and got into an engineering program they could be officially boyfriends. Maybe after he graduated, got a job of his own, they could be more.

But for the time being he liked their arrangement. Alfred had heard of teacher's pets before. He hated them. He consoled himself with the fact that he wasn't a teacher's pet, he was something more. Much more.

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